Are psychological treatments effective for fibromyalgia pain?
Some are effective, some are promising, according to researchers from the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill.
First, the details.
- There were 14 studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy and operant-behavioral therapy.
- 5 studies of relaxation, biofeedback, and hypnotherapy
- 2 of writing intervention
And, the results.
- The strongest research support for fibromyalgia pain is with cognitive-behavioral therapy and operant-behavioral therapy.
- Relaxation as a single treatment has not been useful.
- Hypnotherapy and writing intervention have mild treatment effects.
- Psychological treatment is effective in fibromyalgia pain.
- No studies of psychoanalytic therapy to treat fibromyalgia pain have been published.
The bottom line?
The authors believe more research is need.
A more recent review came to the same conclusion due to the poor level of study design in available research
11/20/09 20:38 JR; updated 6/29/11 JR